The multitude of conflicts that exist worldwide today include Gaza, Myanmar, Sudan, Mali, Ukraine, Syria, Ethiopia, Haiti, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This list is not comprehensive; many other "less major" conflicts are also ongoing which involve barbarism, torture, and the outright slaughter of large swaths of populations.
The human species is named as such because we are supposed to be “humane.” But human beings seem to be as violent as any other species due to their inherent rivalry for resources such as food and territory. Despite the existence of the “United" Nations, virulent tribalism continues to exist around the world.
The human species has the defense mechanism termed “fear of the stranger," a potentially beneficial characteristic that normally exists in children from 8 months until two years old. The problem is that this primal protective instinct can persist or reemerge in later life because of the shortage of necessary tools for survival; thus, people of differing backgrounds become competitive to survive, depriving “the stranger” of necessary resources.
News programs routinely depict the extent of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, including the on-campus conflicts here in the U.S. that have arisen in response, as well as the consequences of the ongoing war in Ukraine. The depiction of these conflicts with their consequential damage to so many human beings left me aghast! I fear that someday humanity may destroy itself because of inherent “tribalism” that leads to more dangerous wars and weaponry.
Is there anything we as individuals can do to lessen the likelihood that the human species may eventually destroy itself? When asking myself this question, the only thing I could come up with was to become a pacifist and to preach that attitude wherever I could.
This idea of becoming a pacifist reminded me that when I came of military age back in the 1960’s I struggled with whether to formally register as a “pacifist” to avoid being drafted into the military during what I felt was the very unjust Vietnam war. Then I thought about the importance of defending democracy in World War II, which convinced me that I was not a true “pacifist” at all because I would likely have volunteered to serve in that war.
Back in the early 1950’s, then President Dwight D. Eisenhower cautioned our country not to become a “military-industrial complex” because he feared that excessive militarism could lead countries to perpetuate warfare simply because they had so much military power sitting idly by going to waste. His advice was not heeded then and today this “military-industrial complex” is a significant part of our nation’s economy.
Militarism or pacifism? Which side do you espouse for the wellbeing of our country and for the future of humanity?
Dr. Hugh Winig is a retired psychiatrist, a longtime OLLI @Berkeley member and volunteer, and a regular contributor to the OLLI Blog.
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